FILM: Consumer
FILM: Consumer
(12 MIN, 2022), Cowriter, Director
Logline
Tortured by TOXIC beauty standards, thirteen-year-old Rein discovers an unconventional and DISTURBING way to lose weight. She thinks she's found a fast track to perfection...but ends up biting off more than she can chew.
CONSUMER was a Top 6 Winner at the Crazy 8s Film Society filmmaking incubator, which produces six high-quality short films over 8 days every year from hundreds of pitches. It then went on to beat out hundreds of international submissions to win Stage 32’s Short Film Competition, which will bring it to both Hollyshorts in LA and Raindance Film Festival in London this October 2022.
The film explores the challenges to identity, self-esteem, and body image faced by teens in the age of social media, aka the loudspeaker of toxic beauty standards. This genre-bending story is one about self-annihilation; about the complicated hunger to be seen while disappearing.
Some terrifying facts: Self-harm by girls ages 10 to 14 has nearly tripled since 2010, correlating with a 150% increase in smartphone use. Kids - particularly girls - are destroying themselves in order to feel necessary, to feel that they matter. CONSUMER takes these numbers and churns them into a dark tale of one teens undoing, warning the viewer to take heed of their own scrolling and tread no further into the realm of diet culture… a modern parable with some classic teen makeover slo-mo thrown in for good measure!
The film is a feast for the eyes and ears, the aesthetic an homage to the coming of age classics beloved by kids of the 80s, as well as horror films of the 70s. Our sound design and original score by award-winning composer Jordan Andrews draw inspiration from 80s synth as well as one of the film’s featured tracks, “Dark Place” by Canadian indie group Blonde Diamond. In addition, we’re the first Canadian film to feature the music of independent Los Angeles-based rap sensation Qveen Herby.
Featuring performances from Canadian stars Keegan Conner Tracey (Once Upon A Time, The Magicians) and Jill Morrison (Project Blue Book, Mean Girls) and starring the extraordinary up-and-coming talent Eden Summer Gilmore (Family Law, Nancy Drew) Consumer is a fast-paced, biting film with a gut-punch ending and a message that will stay with its audience.
“Written and directed by Vancouver-based Stephanie Izsak, Consumer is a gross, funny, and poignant exploration of the horrors of teenage girlhood. Surrounded by toxic messaging about her appearance, a young girl (Eden Summer Gilmore) goes to extreme lengths to lose weight.
This is a tale of female adolescence that will take a bite out of you! Izsak manages to pack complex themes, disturbing imagery, and nuanced characterization into a small package that packs a big punch.” - Shannon Page, The Vancouver Guardian.